1st Contest – 1st Win for Udupi Lass Mayya in Surfing
First Contest-First Win for Udupi Lass Mayya in first-ever All Cargo Indian open of Surfing contest at Sasihithlu that concluded on 29 May, 2016
Mangaluru : The three-day surfing excitement at the Sasihithlu Beach came to an end on Sunday, 29 May 2016 with thousands of spectators thronged at the venue to watch the first of its kind sporting event in Mangaluru/DK. The weather was perfect during the 3-day events, except for slight drizzle here and there. Because of the long stretch of narrow road and visitors coming in large numbers to witness the finale, the police had a tough time to manage the vehicular movement, but did a good job without any traffic congestion. Actors Ileana D’Cruz and Vikram Rai were the guests for the concluding ceremony, who handed over the prizes to the winners, along with Sports Minister Abhayachandra Jain, Deputy Commissioner AB Ibrahim, ‘Surfing Swami’ aka Jack Hebner-founder of Mantra Surf Club-Mulki, KCCI president Rammohan Pai Maroor and other Surfing committee members. A total of Rs 6 lakh was disbursed as prize money to the winners in eight categories.
In the open category surfing, Samai Reboul from Aoroville stood first, while Puttur lass Sinchana Gowda, Tanvi J. from Mangaluru and Chinmayee Mayya from Udupi made a mark in the maiden Indian Open of Surfing held at Sasihithlu beach .Ms. Gowda and Ms. Tanvi stood first and third respectively, while Ms. Mayya finished second in women surfing in all age category. Their positions interchanged in the stand-up peddling event for women in which Ms. Tanvi finished first while Ms. Gowda came third. Vilassini Sundar from Chennai finished third in this event. It is learnt that Ms. Gowda and Ms. Tanvi have undergone surfing training at the Mantra Surf Club, which is the co-host of the three-day event.
For Chinmayee Mayya from Udupi, but had trained herself in surfing on the California beach in USA during her studies there was a dream come true when she won the second place, and also it being her first surfing contest. Prior to the beginning of this contest four days ago, Mayya speaking to Mangalorean.com had said that she was not quite sure whether she will win in this contest, because of her first time entry into a major surfing event. But with the blessing of her mother who had been always supportive and also from best wishes from her relatives and friends, Mayya did achieve what she was expecting, and she is all happy and proud before she gets back to her job as executive at a American advertising company based in Dubai. Team Mangalorean is also proud of her achievement in this contest, and wishes her best of luck in future surfing events. You go girl!
As many as 95 surfers from different parts of the country and abroad took part in the three-day event organised jointly by Dakshina Kannada district administration, Tourism Department, Surfing Federation of India, Mantra Surf Club and the newly-formed Kanara Surfing and Water Sports Promotion Council. In the open category surfing, Samai Reboul from Auroville stood first, while Manikandan from Chennai and Bazile Pinel stood second and third respectively. In the surfing for Under 16 category, Perceval Fayon from Puducherry stood first followed by Sanjay Selvamani and Manikandan from Tamil Nadu in the second and third place respectively. Raghul Govind, Surya P. and Ajith Kumar, all from Chennai, finished first, second and third in the surfing for juniors (17-22 years) category.
In the seniors (23-28 years) category, Dharani Selvakumar, Raghul Paneer and Manikandan D., all from Chennai came first, second and third respectively. In the Masters (29 and above) category, Moorthy Megavan from Chennai came first, while Santosh Moorthy from Mahabalipuram and Velu from Puducherry came second and third respectively. In the men’s stand-up paddling category, Sekhar Pachai stood first, while Murthy Meghavan and Vicky V. came second and third respectively. Reboul, the winner in open category, was given a prize money of Rs. 50,000, while the runners-up received Rs. 25,000. The first, second and third place holders in the remaining categories were given a prize money of Rs. 25,000, Rs.15,000 and Rs.10,000 respectively. Chennai surfers took away a major share in the maiden edition.
Chinmayee Mayya from Udupi/Dubai seen with her mother
Minister for Youth Empowerment, Sports and Fisheries K Abhayachandra Jain addressing the gathering said, “The state government has released Rs 1 crore to the district for the development of beaches. With this amount, Sasihithlu beach too will be developed. High mast lights will be installed at the beach and the street lights will be installed on the roads leading to the beach. In addition, Rs 50 lakh will be utilised to build a protective wall at the end point of the beach. We have also decided to conduct the national surfing festival on May 26, 27 and 28 next year too. Everyone is happy with this year’s event, and we hope to get more surfers next year too”.
Samai Reboul speaking to Mangalorean.com said, “I am really overwhelmed to be here and it’s been a great experience to be a part of this first-ever All Cargo Indian open of Surfing to happen at this beautiful Sasihithlu beach. My compliments to the organizers, especially Mantra Surf Club for organizing this event so systematically and as per surfing standards. To win it has been the icing on the cake. It’s great to see that slowly such tournaments are being organised in India and this only strengthens our hope of a strong surfing future in India. I hope we get to see many more international tournaments being organised along India’s coastline in the days to come.”
Also Read Related Articles Below:
- Let’s Go ‘Trippin’ while ‘Surfin’ at Sasihithlu!
- The Surfing Swami Propagates ‘Live to Give’ Philosophy